For many of our children’s and YA authors, the end of 2014 signaled new breakthroughs in various international territories.

Maria Turtschaninoff’s Finlandia Junior Prize -winning Maresi(Schildts & Söderströms 2014) and upcoming Books II and III in the Red Abbey Chronicles were sold in the World English territories to Pushkin Press. In Germany Maresi was sold to Random House/Heyne. Rights were previously sold in Sweden to Berghs, in Denmark to Turbine, and Romania to Editura Univers.

”I was blown away by Maresi, quite simply…I’ve no doubt that Maresi and The Red Abbey Chronicles as a whole will become classics of the genre.”– Adam Freudenheim, Publisher and Managing Director of Pushkin Press/Pushkin Children’s Books.

French-language rights to five books in the Storm Sisters YA pirate series by Mintie Das (Rovio Books 2014) were acquired by Éditions Robert Laffont. Rights were previously sold in Finland to Tammi Publishers and on Indonesia to Gramedia.

”A refreshing combination of strong girls with big hearts, action, humor, romance and political intrigue across the Seven Seas, Storm Sisters had us hooked from the first page. Long live the Pirettes!”– Glenn Tavennec, Éditions Robert Laffont, Publisher of the Collection “R” imprint

French rights to the first six books in Sinikka Nopola and Tiina Nopola’s mega-selling Ricky Rapper middle-grade series (Tammi) were sold to Pocket Jeunesse, France’s second most important children’s publisher. Editors Natacha Derevitsky and Alice Saint Guilhem called Ricky Rapper ”the star of Finland’s children’s literature.”

Rights to the Ricky Rapper series have now been sold in 18 languages. The fifth Ricky Rapper film, which is poised to become a major box office hit like the previous four adaptations, will premiere in Finland in February.

Maria Turtschaninoff is known for crafting lyrical, historically inspired fantasy stories starring strong female protagonists. In addition to J.R.R. Tolkien, she counts Philip Pullman, Ursula K. Le Guin and C.S. Lewis among her favorite authors. She is a two-time winner of the Society of Swedish Literature Prize, a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and winner of the 2014 Finlandia Junior Prize. Maria has a Master of Arts in human ecology and works full-time as a writer.

Mintie Das (b. 1976) was born in India and raised in the U.S., but has traveled around the globe. She resides in Helsinki, Finland. She has 15 years of experience in corporate PR and marketing, and she has also worked as an editor. Her first book, Storm Sisters: The Sinking World, produced in collaboration with Rovio Books, has drawn international attention. In February of 2015 it was one of only 11 entries selected for Books at Berlinale, an annual event that introduces film producers to new literary works with strong potential for the big screen.